1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to garments, and more particularly relates to a garment which is adapted to improve the posture of a person wearing the garment when their hands are placed inside the pockets of the garment.
2. The Description of the Prior Art
Garments having pockets adapted to receive articles including personal objects and the hands of the person wearing the garment are well known in the art. However, when a person is standing and places his hands into the pockets of a garment in order to provide comfort such as for relaxation or warmth, the hands tend to come to rest at the bottom of the pockets. Pockets of prior art garments were generally designed to have a certain depth in order to accommodate objects placed inside the pockets as well as to retain these objects during daily activities. This pocket depth, while suitable for holding objects, tends to be relatively deep resulting in poor, unhealthy posture as the hands come to rest at the bottom of the pockets. With the hands at rest at the bottom of the pocket, the shoulders tend to roll forward and the back tends to bend producing a slouching position which creates a sloppy, unprofessional appearance.
Garments which modify the wearer's body using specially designed pockets are disclosed in the prior art. U.S. Pat. No. 3,217,335 to Bell discloses such a garment with a combined pocket and waist suppressor. The pockets include a zipper which is placed on the side seams of the garment and, when the zipper is moved into the closed position, the circumference of the garment is reduced producing a tight fit around the waist of the person wearing the garment. When the zipper is open, the garment's pocket openings are exposed.
However, this garment design includes a deep pocket which does not prevent the wearer from slouching, i.e., rolling their shoulder's forward when the hands are placed into the bottom of the pockets. Therefore, no posture enhancing benefit is achieved.
Garments having a smaller pocket located inside a larger pocket are also well known in the art. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 2,997,719 to Levi discloses placing a pocket within a pocket wherein the inside pocket includes a closure means to secure contents within the pocket. Access to the inner pocket is obtained by removing the pocket from the main pocket and moving a zipper to the open position. A disadvantage of the inner pocket disclosed in the Levi patent is that it is not sufficiently sized for the wearer to place their hands within the inner pocket. The inner pocket is merely a security pocket for small objects. Furthermore, when the wearer places his hands into the deep main pockets, the hands tend to rest at the bottom of the pocket making it difficult for the wearer to keep their shoulders back and maintain good posture.
Accordingly, there is a need for posture improving garments and especially garments having pockets which are specially designed to improve the posture of the person wearing the garment simply by placing their hands in the pockets. The present invention overcomes the disadvantages of the prior art garments and provides such a posture enhancing garment.